


Tethered to the Storm

by dentedsky



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Creampie, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart, Mutual Pining, Omega Verse, Scent Marking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24471883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dentedsky/pseuds/dentedsky
Summary: They say an unmated alpha and omega cannot be friends.Zack is sure he and Cloud are the exception.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 56
Kudos: 372
Collections: ff7omegaverseweek





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part 1 of this fic is for ff7omegaverse week's Day 1 - marking/scenting.
> 
> Part 2 will be out on Day 5 - heats/ruts.
> 
> Big thank you to Cream Pudding and everyone over at the Clickety-Clack discord server for like, fic writing moral support. Top notch community honestly.

Aerith places the danish swirl for Cloud in one side of the lunch box, and the chocolate scone on the other side, before taking their keep-cups and brewing up their flat white and mocha, respectively. She and Tifa had expanded the new Seventh Heaven to be a café on weekday mornings, and a bar Friday and Saturday nights.

Aerith gives Zack her usual sunny morning smile, and says, “So, are you planning to get your jingle-jangle on?”

Zack barks out a laugh at that one. Every morning he comes to Seventh Heaven to get him and Cloud breakfast, and while she gets the coffee going, Aerith comes up with something new to greet him with that essentially means: “Have you mated Cloud yet?” 

For example:

“If you want it you better put a ring on it.” “Time to tie yourself to that ol’ ball n’ chain.” “Gonna let him make a real alpha outta you?” “I hear going to the Gold Saucer for dates is still in fashion.” “I saw Cloud look at your ass the other day,” (that one is obviously a lie). “Time for the two of you to partake in a spot of buggery.” “They say mated pairs live longer; you should tell Cloud that.”

Zack slaps the bench in amusement. “What does that even _mean_?”

Tifa chooses that moment to come downstairs with Denzel and Marlene, pushing the teenagers out the door, schoolbags slung off one shoulder each. She grabs their lunch boxes from the bench and shoves them in their bags. “Go!” she chastises them. “You’ll be late.”

Zack suspects that Denzel and Marlene are never late for school, but that Tifa just enjoys saying “You’ll be late!” like those nineteen-fifties mothers that used to be on TV, back when TV was a thing.

Then Tifa greets Zack with her usual Good Morning, which is always just friendly enough but a little clipped like she doesn’t really like him being there conversing with her omega mate, who also happens to be his ex. It’s alpha contentiousness that has slowly tempered with Tifa’s and Zack’s experiences saving the world together, plus some time; but regardless, Tifa still walks into the room with her mate and any other alpha in it with her proverbial walls up, and Zack is no exception.

Zack does think about it sometimes, about what might’ve happened if he had fought Tifa for Aerith harder, insisted that Aerith mate with him and not Tifa. But when Tifa and Aerith had laid eyes on each other for the first time in the basement below Don Corneo’s mansion, sparks and love hearts and a chorus of angels et cetera had sung, and really, Zack never stood a chance.

Besides, if he and Aerith had gotten together, then Tifa would have made a claim on Cloud and… the thought fills him with such jealousy that he grabs his lunch box and two coffees and waves the thought away as he waves Tifa and Aerith goodbye.

*

Fact of the matter is, Zack Fair is in love with Cloud Strife.

Zack walks home at an easy stroll, past the old man who always sits outside his ramshackle house with his five cats, past the park with the jungle gym a bunch of seven year olds had made themselves with driftwood and pipes, past the items guy who always has something new to sell every Monday, past the brothel and the medical tent and the butcher. 

Zack has been in love with Cloud even since the mountains of Modeoheim, snow beneath their feet and a helicopter burning behind them. He was in love with him in the Shinra basement, was in love with him even, or especially, as he dragged Cloud’s comatose body across a continent. In love when they joined AVALANCHE and bombed reactors and rescued Aerith from Shinra and brought Nanaki back to Cosmo Canyon and had chased Yuffie through Wutai and been controlled by Sephiroth to give him the black materia and the WEAPONS and Meteorfall and the remnants and Deepground and Omega and –

All of it.

And now he and Cloud live in a townhouse together, best of friends. People think it’s weird for an alpha and omega to live in close quarters with each other and not be mated… and they’d be right, but fuck those guys. Because foremost, Cloud is his _best friend_ , and yeah he might sneak into Cloud’s room sometimes and sniff his dirty laundry, or rub his hands on his clean laundry to leave his alpha pheromones around, or occasionally eye up Cloud’s lithe form as he bends over the sink, doing dishes or – you know, whatever; he’s a twenty-something hot blooded alpha male, he’s only human! And when he smells Cloud is a couple of days away from his _heat_ and he sees Cloud take his suppressant potion – yeah, he gets a little sad about it, okay? So what!

It doesn’t matter that Zack’s in love with Cloud, because Cloud doesn’t love him back.

Zack is not a _dysfunctional_ ; his alpha nose works perfectly well and he can smell desire from metres away. He can smell omegas desiring himself – which, fair enough, he’s hot, so it happens – and he can smell other alphas’ desire when looking at Cloud. When Zack had first met Andrea Rhodea, he had been _this close_ to punching him in his face, but unfortunately at the time they had needed him to rescue Tifa, so he had restrained himself. Barely. But the point is, Zack can smell Cloud’s desire, or rather, lack thereof.

In all the time they’ve known each other, hung out, gotten drunk, conversed, fought bad guys, and so on, Cloud has _never once_ smelt like desire. Cloud did not want Zack. If he ever had, even for a moment, Zack would have smelt it in an instant, and would have been all over that.

Zack turns into their street and sees Cloud outside the steps to their home, packing the Fenrir with the fastidiousness of someone who has done it many, many times. Cloud looks over at Zack’s approach as he loads in the sections of his fusion sword, and Zack waves back amicably with his lunch box. There’s a pervasive twinge in his chest that he deliberately does not allow to show on his face: the fear that if Cloud leaves, Zack will never see Cloud return. It’s something born from their escape from Nibelheim all those years ago that has faded but never managed to die.

“Got three jobs in this morning,” Cloud tells Zack without morning preamble. “Two Same-Day-Locals and an Express Overnight from those science students camping near the Ancient Forest.” Cloud leans over the back of his bike to check the steel freight box installed there. A wind blows, causing Zack to catch a whiff of his scent.

Zack freezes where he stands, his jaw clenching against his sudden arousal.

“The dimensions should fit to the box so that’s why I’m taking the bike,” Cloud is still explaining. “I’ll pick up the job and head straight there.”

“I should come with you,” Zack manages. “We can ride together, or take the utility truck, either-or.”

“I’ll be fine,” Cloud dismisses quietly, mind made up. He steps over to Zack, and with an almost imperceptible happy noise, he takes his coffee from the cardboard tray and takes a sip. Zack fumbles with the lunch box and hands Cloud over his breakfast, which he takes an immediate bite into.

Alpha instincts switched on, Zack takes great pleasure watching Cloud eat the food he provided, even if that food is bought on their shared tab. Zack loves to watch Cloud consume food, looking satisfied and fed with Zack’s love and care.

Zack sips his own coffee and tells Cloud, “You shouldn’t make the trip alone.”

Cheeks chipmunking adorably, Cloud gives him an incredulous look.

How does Zack explain this without being conspicuous, or without it sounding like he’s telling Cloud what he should or shouldn’t do with his body? But, fuck it, they’re best friends, and both of them have always appreciated honesty. He says, “Your heat is due in less than two days. Possibly less than one. Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to make the trip to Cosmo Canyon alone?”

Cloud swallows. He looks on the verge of exasperation but is reining it in with the kind of pure patience he’s really good at. “One of us has to do the local orders today.”

“Then _I’ll_ go to Cosmo – “

“I’ve already packed, _including_ my suppressant potions.”

“But what if – “ Zack cuts himself off, imagination going wild: his mind conjures images of big, thug-like men accosting Cloud while he’s in heat, trying to rape him on the road to the West. Or what if his bike breaks down, and a kind, local alpha allows him to stay in his spare room, and then he and Cloud can’t resist each other –

Zack is not lying about Cloud’s heat being close, it’s really obvious with how strong he smells. His scent is very pure _Cloud_ , but there’s also a kind of melted butter smell, like Cloud is ready for sex. Zack had once tried to explain this to Cloud, years ago, but it seems the scent concept can only be one hundred percent experienced by alphas.

But Zack’s overprotectiveness and jealousy is incongruous given Cloud’s true circumstance: that no matter how many rabid road bandits attack Cloud on his trip, it will not make a difference, because Cloud is the strongest man in the world. He may have had lots of help from Zack and Tifa and the rest of the gang during the whole ordeal with Meteorfall, but it was Cloud who defeated Sephiroth. Twice.

Zack takes a deep breath. He puts his coffee cup and lunch box on top of the bike lockbox. “You know what? I’m an idiot, don’t listen to me. You’re the boss.”

“Damn straight,” says Cloud. “When I get there I’ll be staying with Nanaki and his mate. So you know, I’ll be… safe. From… people.”

Zack snorts. “Yeah man, people are the _worst_.”

Cloud nods, taking another bite of his pastry.

“…Listen. I know it’s stupid, but – “ Zack steps closer to Cloud, right into his personal space – “can I – just - ?”

Cloud looks up at him with big, trusting eyes. He doesn’t say anything because his mouth is full, but he’s not shaking his head or moving away, so Zack does what he intends to do: he gives Cloud a hug.

Cloud just stands there awkwardly with coffee and pastry in both hands; Zack, on the other hand, is particular in his intentions. He rubs his palms over Cloud’s back and shoulders, moving up to the back of his neck, and then over his arms, spreading his alpha scent, weak as it is against the strength of Cloud’s heat-smell. This way, if an alpha does come sniffing and he catches even a trace of Zack, it may make said imaginary alpha pause long enough for Cloud to get away. Cloud is hot and lean under his clothes, and Zack's mouth waters, but his mission to get as much scent on Cloud without seeming too pedantic takes precedence.

As Zack pulls away, he guides his hands over Cloud’s neck.

Cloud’s expression is carefully hidden behind a poker face, but there are two red spots high on his cheeks. Zack wonders what he's thinking, and hopes Cloud understands what Zack is trying to accomplish.

Cloud looks down and up again, then ventures with a dubious, “Thanks, I think?”

Zack gesticulates. “Just in case, you know, you get some unwanted attention.”

Cloud seems amused. “’Unwanted attention’, huh?”

Zack scratches the back on his neck. “Sure. You never know what weirdos are on the road to Cosmo Canyon.”

“Seems like,” Cloud says, deadpan, leaning forward, “there’s a weirdo right here.”

 _Dilly-dally, shilly-shally_ , Zack thinks, suddenly. Is Cloud lingering? Zack doesn’t know. “I’m the weirdo you want,” Zack says, pointing to himself with a thumb, “to keep the other weirdos away.”

Cloud turns to go, hair falling into this eyes. “Something like that,” Cloud mutters. Zack grabs his breakfast back. “I’ll be back in about four days,” Cloud informs him, placing his coffee cup carefully in his inbuilt cup holder. He shoves the rest of the pastry in his mouth, where it dangles.

Zack gives him a lazy wave with his cup. “I’ll barely notice you’re gone,” he outright lies with a smile.

Cloud looks damn adorable with food in his mouth and his motorbike dwarfing him, but Zack will never tell him that, since he’s a little afraid of what Cloud might do to him if he did.

Cloud rides off, and Zack watches him go, smile slipping from his face.

By the time Zack has completed the first two jobs of the morning, he receives two more. He takes a late lunch with Aerith and Tifa, and stays around to greet Marlene and Denzel when they come home from school. It’s not going to be easy going back to the empty townhouse, but he does once the sun has set, sated from a day of fulfilling work.

When he steps out of the shower, he notices a potion bottle on the sink. It’s a heat suppressant, one that Cloud should have taken with him.

Zack stares at it.

Then he panics.


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *marches on the spot* porrrn glorious porrrrrN

Cloud had lied to Zack.

Cloud doesn’t _like_ lying to Zack, and it’s not something he does often.

He contemplates the consequences of his secrecy as he rides across the Eastern Continent, crossing the lake and then heading towards the mountains. First, he’s going to drop off the replacement equipment for the science students camping at the edge of the Ancient Forest, then he’ll head straight to Nanaki’s. It’s not a great idea to ride into the rocky areas surrounding Cosmo Canyon as night approaches, but he feels his heat coming on, and having his heat in a tent in the middle of the wilderness is far too unappealing.

This is not the first time Cloud has gone off on his own to endure his heat drug-free.

Heats are full of pleasure, but they’re not _pleasant_. Regardless, about once per year Cloud likes to feel them, to cleanse himself, in a way, to remind himself that yes, this is his body. The biological needs his body has are something he was born with; they weren’t given to him by mako, or Jenova or Sephiroth or Hojo; he was born omega and is omega, and he will die omega, and he allows himself to feel it.

He’s sometimes thought about just having the heats at home. But then he would have to explain it to Zack and Zack would feel obliged to offer Cloud relief and Cloud – Cloud really can’t go there. With Zack.

Because the thing is with him and Zack is –

The thing is –

Well –

Cloud is in love with Zack. It’s… embarrassing.

It’s not particularly explosive or even brand new information: Cloud has been in love with Zack since meeting him in the snow on a ridge. Zack was just so _larger than life_ and friendly and a _First Class SOLDIER_. Granted, Cloud isn’t entirely sure if he was just infatuated at first and fell in love later on, but at the end of it all, after all the world-ending shit they’ve been put through, Cloud just loves him. He’s been a solicitous companion to Cloud for many years, even when Cloud was a useless comatose bag of flesh - and how could Cloud go on, not loving someone so incredible? It’s not possible. Cloud’s love for Zack is a self-made mountain, a proliferation of memories they've created together, an amalgamation of their experiences and friendship.

Sometimes Cloud thinks he can smell desire on Zack, but these days, it’s so faded that Cloud wonders if it’s his imagination. He used to be able to smell it back before the Nibelheim incident, but back then, Cloud had been too shy and self-conscious to make the first move. Nowadays, they spend so much time together, that they’ve fallen into an easy, domestic friendship, and Cloud doesn’t want to shatter it with trivialities such as his sexual needs.

Cloud is granted entry to Cosmo Canyon, and he walks his bike to the side of Nanaki’s compound, red dust kicked up in the dark.

*

“It’s your usual,” Nanaki tells him with some amusement as Cloud steps into the heat room. 

There’s a mattress on the ground covered in pillows, and warm rugs surround it. Heat is circulating through the walls via hot spring aqueducts, and there’s warm light from the lamps, and a basic ensuite bathroom. In one corner is a picnic blanket with plates of hard bread, and vegetables and meat cured with salt and chilli. The room on the whole is quite the luxury, though heat rooms like this are common in places like Cosmo Canyon where culturally they do not believe in taking suppressant potions.

“Thanks,” Cloud tells Nanaki. He truly is grateful, but Nanaki only nods sagely at him and wanders off back down the hall, tail relaxed and low. 

Cloud closes the door and then goes to lie on the swelter of blankets. He intends to get a few hours sleep before his heat kicks in.

*

Naturally, his heat wakes him.

It’s the middle of the night and Cloud wakes up so hot and sweaty he strips off his clothes and stumbles, panting, to the bathroom for his cleansing. It’s something that he does half asleep, and is followed by a thorough wash in the bath, then a moment to eat the preserves Nanaki has shared of his own stores.

Cloud feels dazed, and hot, and his dick is hard, though at this early point of the cycle he can ignore it.

He reaches over to his pile of clothes and fishes out his PHS. He had switched it off on the approach to the crater that leads to the Ancient Forest, knowing that he would not have any signal for some time and preferring to conserve battery. When he switches it on again, there’s more than ten messages, all from Zack.

Chewing on some biltong, Cloud thumbs through it with a focus that breaks through his haze.

 _Hey just wanted to check to make sure you took some suppressants?_ is the first text, followed by:

 _I know you said you took some so you probably did I just want to make sure you know just in case cos there’s this potion on the sink._ And then:

 _Can you please call me? Just to ease this weirdo’s mind._ And also:

 _I tried calling but you’re not answering  
are you ok?_

_I’m thinking I might head on over to Cosmo. Bring your suppressants to you. Just in case you forgot them. Cos that must be really uncomfortable._

_I mean you’re probably fine. I’ll call you later?_

_You’re still not answering so just checking_

_You’re not ignoring me right? I know you like to ignore the others but you usually answer my texts, so I don’t know._

_Well anyway I’m on my way._

_Leaving now._

_I’m at the river junction._

Cloud blinks down at his phone. He swallows his mouthful, eventually.

Unfortunately he can’t tell when the texts were sent as they are all time-stamped the time that Cloud switched his PHS on.

The thought of Zack is causing Cloud’s heat to culminate like a slow trickle of hot wax down his spine. Cloud forces himself to type and send the text: _I'm ok_ , since he knows those two words, although simplistic, will be appreciated.

Then he types, _I’m in heat_ , hesitates, then sends that too. It's a warning, so that when Zack gets here, Cloud’s scent and behaviour don't take Zack completely by surprise. Cloud has never allowed Zack to see him like this -

Cloud stops, and thinks. 

When Zack gets here.

Zack is coming here.

Cloud holds his PHS up, then types:

_Hurry._

His thumb hovers over the send button.

He presses it, then switches the device off and throws it across the room. It bounces off a cushion and disappears amongst a pile of blankets.

*

Cloud's heat peaks, arousal making his cock as hard as it's ever been, and there's slick in his hole that’s leaked onto his cheeks. It's ridiculous, but his thoughts that should be about huge cocks in his face and having his ass pounded and his hair pulled, are instead about the glimpse of Zack’s clavicle he saw once when his t-shirt was pulled down, and that time they were on the couch reading books and Cloud dug his cold toes into the meat of Zack’s warm thigh, and the line of his throat as he tossed his head back to laugh when Cloud made one of his deadpan jokes. 

Cloud can't even remember what the joke was.

That's the thing about good memories: they’re harder to recall than the painful ones. But there’s something about Zack that allows Cloud to recall details: the feel of his warm hand on his shoulder, the swoop of his own stomach as Zack pulls him out of danger, the taste of the cocktail Zack offered him to sip, the cut of the cold wind against his cheeks as they simultaneously snow boarded down the mountainside. His rough calluses and knuckles. The curve of his ass in dark jeans. His pupils lined with mako-green. His dark hair against his nape.

Those times he walked out of his bedroom wearing nothing but his underwear. The hair on his thighs. His abdominal muscles.

The shape of his cock through his briefs.

Cloud fingers himself.

Eventually Cloud thinks about Zack spreading Cloud’s legs with his battle-rough hands, knees up, then pushing his generous-sized cock into him. His mouth waters at the thought of deep-throating Zack while Zack is reading a novel or something, feigning disinterest. He imagines Zack fucking him fast, then slow, pushing his index finger into Cloud along with his cock just to make him stretch a little more. Cloud thinks about –

There’s a knock on the door.

Cloud sits up and pulls his fingers from his ass. “Who is it?”

Voice muffled by the door, Nanaki tells Cloud, “Zack is here. Does he have permission to enter?”

Completely naked and bold, Cloud stands, says, “Yes,” as confidently as he can, and the door bangs open to omit Zack.

There’s a crazy kind of look in his eyes as he stares at Cloud, and he looks fucking sexy in his black riding leathers. Cloud opens his mouth to say Hey, but is prevented by Zack running at him and shoving him up against the wall and smashing their mouths together and pushing his tongue into Cloud’s mouth. It feels like a half-punch, half-kiss, and that paired with Zack’s leather-clad thigh pushing against his cock almost makes Cloud come.

Their moans are loud, but Cloud is still able to hear Nanaki click the door shut as he leaves.

Cloud shoves his hands into Zack’s pants to push them down. “ _Mount me!_ ” Cloud growls into Zack’s mouth.

“Your heat is triggering my rut,” Zack warns him in a voice made gruff by arousal, helping Cloud push his pants down just enough to get his cock out.

“Good,” says Cloud emphatically. Zack flips him around by the shoulders and presses him up against the wall. The height difference means Zack has to bend his knees a little, but when he gets the right angle he blindly aims the head of his cock at Cloud’s hole and shoves in.

“ _Fuuuuuuuck YES_ ,” Cloud growls at the wall. The slide of Zack’s thick cock in his ass is so much better than his fingers or his imagination that it’s difficult for him to fathom. When Zack starts thrusting into him with rhythm, Cloud can feel the head and length of him massaging his walls. Everything feels good, and wet, and just right, like he’s been itchy for years and Zack’s just taught him how to scratch.

Cloud comes, hard, vision gone black a moment. Zack’s groans are stuttering out of him like they’re caught in his throat, and then he’s pulling Cloud down onto all fours by his hips, holding his cock inside him.

Once on his knees Zack thrusts a few more times and then holds still, coming with a full body shudder.

Cloud holds himself up on his elbows as the heat-fog becomes more like a haze. They both pant, sweat dripping.

After a moment of this, Zack shifts a little on his knees, but otherwise doesn’t move. Cloud looks over his shoulder and catches his eye. “Your knot… is there?”

“Yeah,” Zack breathes. “Um. Sorry.”

Cloud shrugs. “To be expected. How long will we be stuck like this?”

“Half an hour, give or take.” Zack clears his throat. “Are you uncomfortable?”

Cloud makes a mental assessment of his body, shifting on his knees. “I’m okay.” He looks back down at the blanket he’s on. It’s hand-knitted wool. He pulls on a loose thread.

Not one to be comfortable with silences, Zack ventures, “So, ah. That happened.”

Cloud can still feel where they’re joined, and the thick, hard length of Zack inside of him. Cloud is hard again. “Yeah,” says Cloud. He’s not good at conversation, and being impaled on Zack’s length and unable to pull off is not going to change that. “I’m probably going to… have to buy the after-morning potion after this.”

“Right, yeah. You’re not on contraception?”

Cloud snorts at the question; what are they, complete strangers? Zack would know if Cloud had that kind of potion lying around the townhouse. “Of course not. I wasn’t planning on having sex.”

Zack clears his throat again; is he thirsty or something? “Have you ever…” Zack ventures, “done this with anyone before?”

Cloud throws him a look of irritation to hide his embarrassment. “You would know if I had.”

“So this is your first time?” Zack’s eyes are wide. “That’s. Okay. Sorry but - I’m going to come again.”

Cloud’s not sure what to expect so he just sort of braces himself. Zack leans over him and grunts, and Cloud can feel Zack’s cock throbbing inside him. It takes a moment. When the throbbing stops, Cloud asks, “How many times do you come during the knot?”

Zack shrugs. “Apparently it can be like, four or five times. I don’t know.”

“Okay,” says Cloud. “I feel kind of full already, I don’t know how much more I can take inside me.”

Zack swallows and closes his eyes. “Uh-huh. So um, tell me more about how you were a virgin, before.”

Cloud reaches over and slaps him on his thigh. Zack is still wearing all his clothes while Cloud is naked, which Cloud thinks is seriously hot. “Have you got a thing for me being a virgin?”

“I’m going to come,” Zack tells him, again.

“Oh okay I – Uhhh. Hmmm.” Cloud closes his eyes and relishes the sensation. When Zack is finished spilling inside him for the moment, Cloud demands, “Play with my balls,” and Zack complies.

*

Later, once Zack has come inside Cloud two more times, jacked Cloud off, pulled out, finally taken all his clothes off and they’ve both had more to eat, they have sex again.

Cloud’s legs are over Zack’s shoulders as Zack pounds into him while pinching Cloud’s nipples, hard, until they’re peaked and red and sore. Zack slams all the way into him, then holds himself there as his knot forms. Cloud comes, feeling well fucked and full.

Cloud is worried the position is going to make his hips uncomfortable before the thirty minutes is up, but for now it’s not so bad. Zack has his eyes closed and is being amorous, licking and kissing all over Cloud’s neck and throat. He’s making little growl noises that Cloud smiles at, thinks, _Cute_.

And then Zack mumbles, “Mine,” into the soft skin under Cloud’s jaw.

Cloud threads his fingers through Zack’s hair and says, “Yours.”

Zack pauses, then leans up to look at Cloud face-to-face. He’s frowning. “Don’t – _mess_ with me like that.”

Cloud blinks at him. “The fuck are you talking about.”

Zack closes his eyes, and the crease between his brows deepens. “Listen, I know you don’t… feel that way for me. Outside of this heat, I mean.”

Cloud clenches his jaw; Zack is making assumptions about him, and it’s making him tense when he should be feeling languid. “You don’t know how I feel,” Cloud reminds him, voice low.

“Maybe not,” says Zack, “but I do know how you smell, and I’ve _never_ smelt desire on you. Ever.”

Cloud takes Zack’s hand and guides it to his cock, which is half-hard again already. “What about now?” Cloud insists. “Do you smell desire on me now?”

Zack inhales, nostrils flaring. “I can’t smell anything except for your heat.” Then he closes his eyes. “I’m going to come.”

Cloud tries not to roll his eyes: he’s not exasperated with Zack’s dick, which has been giving Cloud a lot of pleasure, but rather Zack’s lack of understanding…

 _Guess it’s up to me to be clear,_ Cloud thinks. Once Zack has finished pumping Cloud with come for the time being, Cloud frames Zack’s face with his hands and says, “I love you, idiot.”

“I – “ Eyes wide, whatever Zack was going to say dies in his throat. Cloud waits patiently as Zack braces himself, eyes moving side-to-side as he thinks, recalls, evaluates his inner thoughts and memories. “But I. I never smelt it,” he says weakly.

“Well,” says Cloud, raising his eyebrows, “what do I smell like, usually?”

Zack gazes at Cloud searchingly. “Just like… you. Just you.”

Cloud gives him a look that says, _And…? Go on!_

“You’ve always smelt the same, since we met.”

Cloud continues to give him the look. “Penny in the air,” he murmurs.

Zack’s eyes go wide. He blinks down at Cloud. “You – “ he inhales shakily. “You always - ? You’ve always wanted me? From the moment we met?”

Cloud nods. “Penny drops.”

“I love you,” Zack says, the words are said out in such a rush they sort of mush together like, _Iluvoo_. Then he kisses Cloud, hard, and comes inside him.

“I think with you,” Cloud tells Zack, once Zack is relaxed against him, “is that I couldn’t smell the desire on you anymore because we had become sort of mated, without _actually_ being mated.”

“I get what you mean,” Zack says. “I loved you so much for so long that the scent was just me, and us.”

“Yeah,” says Cloud.

After Zack’s knot goes down, Cloud asks for more sex.

“What, _again_?” says Zack, horrified. “I don’t even know if I can get it up anymore.”

Cloud glares at him. “Try.”

Zack hands Cloud some bread in a placating gesture. “I’ll tell you what: you eat and drink and I’ll put my head between your legs for a while.”

Cloud nibbles, and relents with a reluctant, “I’d prefer a dick up my ass, but I guess that will do. For now.”

Zack grumbles something around Cloud’s cock.

*

“ _CONGRATULATIONSSSSS!!!_ ” Aerith screams at Cloud. Cloud pulls the PHS from his ear, then cautiously brings it back. “I can’t wait to tell Teef when she gets back from doing a delivery for you.”

“Thanks for that, by the way,” says Cloud.

“No problem! You guys take all the time you need,” she says with wickedness. “Is Zack there? Can I speak to him?”

Cloud looks over at Zack, who’s fast asleep from their long, vigorous night. His head is turned slightly, presenting Cloud with the X scar on his jaw. Cloud runs his knuckles over it, but Zack doesn't stir. “He’s passed out,” Cloud answers honestly.

She laughs. “Good for you. Well, I'd better let your ass rest. Ta-ta, darling!”

“Bye.” He hangs up and switches it off, then shimmies over so he's pressed against Zack's body. It's hard and strong from muscle defined over years of surviving and fighting, their skin nicked with a patchwork of invisible scars. They'd given up a normal life for power, Aerith's mother had once told them, standing in her house filled with flowers.

But I want this normality with Zack, Cloud thinks. I want this more than anything.

Let me have it.


End file.
